Series 4 End Party in London

Thursday, 19 June 2008 - Reported by Chuck Foster

A special end-of-series party is planned to be held in London on July 5. The free event will be taking place at a gastropub in Clerkenwell.

Says organiser Jason Gorman: "We are planning to screen the series finale, Journey's End, when it is broadcast at 7pm (as currently scheduled!) - we believe it will also be screened just down the road in Trafalgar Square (for Pride London), and we expect many guests to come after that, so the party will just be getting started by 8pm.

"There'll be live music - with a Parisian theme - later in the evening, and we're working on some special video screenings later in the evening that we hope will amuse and divert. The party will probably go on well past midnight.

"Doors open from 5pm and tickets are free. As there are only 50 left we are limiting them to two per person, and those coming need to be 18 or over."

To confirm you want tickets, please contact Jason at the email address finale@parlezuml.com, stating your full name, address (to send tickets to), and contact number (in case the organisers need to contact you urgently).

Update 22 June: all the tickets have now been allocated, and should be distributed in the next week.

FILTER: - Production - Series 4/30

Forest of the Dead - Final Ratings

Wednesday, 18 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Final figures released by BARB give episode Nine of Series Four, Forest of the Dead, an official rating of7.84 million viewers.

The episode saw the series edge back into the weekly top ten, just beaten by the two main soaps and The Apprentice. Doctor Who beat one episode of EastEnders and one episode of Coronation street in the final ratings.

The Sunday repeat on BBC3 which was watched by0.82 million viewers and was the 7th most watched programme on multi-channel for the week.

The Saturday showing of Doctor Who Confidentialgot 0.87 million viewers making it the 5th most watched multi-channel programme.

Full ratings data, including data for iPlayer downloads can be found in the Doctor Who Forum.

Top Programmes w/e 8th June 2008

1 CORONATION STREET (MON 1932) - 9.16 - ITV1
2 CORONATION STREET (MON 2029) - 9.03 - ITV1
3 EASTENDERS (MON 2001) - 8.70 - BBC1
4 CORONATION STREET (FRI 1934) - 8.69 - ITV1
5 CORONATION STREET (WED 1930) - 8.42 - ITV1
6 CORONATION STREET (FRI 2030) - 8.15 - ITV1
7 EASTENDERS (FRI 1959) - 8.07 - BBC1
8 EASTENDERS (THU 1930) - 8.00 - BBC1
9 THE APPRENTICE (WED 2100) - 7.94 - BBC1
10 DOCTOR WHO (SAT 1900) - 7.84 - BBC1
11 CORONATION STREET (SUN 2003) - 7.75 - ITV1
12 EMMERDALE (MON 1901) - 6.71 - ITV1
13 EMMERDALE (TUE 1858) - 6.61 - ITV1
14 EMMERDALE (FRI 1903) - 6.59 - ITV1
15 EMMERDALE (THU 1902) - 6.44 - ITV1
16 EASTENDERS (TUE 1929) - 6.18 - BBC1
17 EMMERDALE (WED 1859) - 6.06 - ITV1
18 CASUALTY (SAT 2037) - 5.89 - BBC1
19 TRAFFIC COPS (TUE 2100) - 5.64 - BBC1
20 BIG BROTHER (THU 2102) - 5.59 - Chann

Top Multi Channel Programmes w/e 8th June 2008

1 EASTENDERS (Tue 2202) 1,270,000 - BBC3
2 HEROES (Thu 2230) 1,080,000 - BBC3
3 FILM: THIS IS ENGLAND (2006) (Mon 2100) 1,005,000 - Film4
4 AMERICA'S GOT TALENT (Fri 2104) 992,000 - ITV2
5 DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL (Sat 1946) 865,000 - BBC3
6 HOME AND AWAY (Tue 1829) 853,000 - Fiver
7 DOCTOR WHO (Sun 2001) 819,000 - BBC3
8 HOME AND AWAY (Fri 1828) 784,000 - Fiver
9 EASTENDERS (Thu 2200) 757,000 - BBC3
10 EASTENDERS (Mon 2203) 740,000 - BBC3
11 FAMILY GUY (Sun 2224) 738,000 - BBC3
12 HOLLYOAKS (Thu 1900) 730,000 - E4
13 HOME AND AWAY (Mon 1829) 722,000 - Fiver
14 60 SECONDS (Mon 2201) 717,000 - BBC3
15 HOLLYOAKS (Mon 1900) 711,000 - E4
16 HOME AND AWAY (Wed 1829) 708,000 - Fiver
17 60 SECONDS (Tue 2159) 651,000 - BBC3
18 HOME AND AWAY (Thu 1829) 648,000 - Fiver
19 HOLLYOAKS (Fri 1859) 636,000 - E4
20 MIDSOMER MURDERS (Tue 2205) 623,000 - ITV3

Source BARB

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

Photo spoiler in The Sun

Tuesday, 17 June 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The Sun daily national newspaper in Britain has published a story about a returning enemy in the final two episodes of the current series of Doctor Who. The story also features a high-quality photograph of this character, and also of another aspect due to feature in the finale. The information is contained in the spoiler box below - please do not click if you do not want to be spoiled!

Today's Daily Telegraph is also running the spoiler story, although their photograph is not from the current series.

The returning enemy is Davros, the creator of the Daleks, previously seen in five classic series stories. According to both papers, he is now played by actor Julian Bleach, who previously appeared in an episode of Torchwood.

A new type of Dalek, a Red Dalek, is also pictured in The Sun's story.

FILTER: - Series 4/30 - Press

Press round-up

Monday, 16 June 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The most recent episode of Doctor Who, "Midnight", is reviewed in two of the British broadsheet newspapers this morning. The Times's reviewer Andrew Billen felt that the episode was "too much of a writing exercise to be really scary," however he does concede that: "It showed that even if it fails as often as it succeeds, this series is not afraid of variety. Like the passengers aboard the charabanc, Doctor Who is dead scared of repetition." Sam Wollaston of The Guardian gives a very positive assessment: "It's great. Because what we can't see is much more alarming than what we can. It's tense and claustrophobic, and it gnaws away at you."

icWales yesterday published an article examining what next for Welsh-produced drama once Russell T Davies leaves Doctor Who, claiming that Welsh drama productions are the envy of Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond. The article rather oddly refers to Davies's successor, Steven Moffat, as first English, before later pointing out his Scottish origins.

Davies's impact on television drama is also examined further afield: the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune have both published a piece by journalist Sarah Lyall, looking at Davies and Doctor Who's influence on the industry and British popular culture as a whole.

FILTER: - Series 4/30 - Press

Midnight - AI and Digital Ratings

Monday, 16 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Episode ten of series four, Midnight, scored an Appreciation Index of 86, once more putting the show firmly in the excellent category. It was the 2nd most appreciated programme on BBC1 and ITV on Saturday after Trooping the Colour.

Continuing the general run of low ratings, none of Sunday's programmes were able to beat Saturday's Doctor Who, making it the highest rated programme for the whole weekend and the 5th most watched programme of the week. This position may rise when corrected figures, including numbers for those recording the programme, are released by BARB in 9 days time.

Apart from the last Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, which was 2nd in the weekly list, the highest chart position Doctor Who has ever previously achieved is 5th for episode two of the 1975 Tom Baker story The Ark in Space.

Sunday's BBC3 repeat got an overnight audience of 0.91 million viewers. It was a 4.5% share of the multi-channel audience and the most watched programme on all multi-channel TV for Sunday.

Saturday's edition of Doctor Who Confidential was watched by 0.52 million viewers. The programme, which had a share of 3.1 %, was the most watched on multi-channel television on Saturday.

Last Friday's repeat of Forest of the Dead got an audience of 0.35 million viewers. It was the 6th highest multi channel programme, and the highest rated on BBC3.

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

New Radio Times

Monday, 16 June 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The new edition of the BBC's Radio Times listings magazine, available across the UK from tomorrow, once again focuses on Doctor Who as its cover feature. The magazine published four alternative covers for its series four launch issue, and has also made the Sontarans cover stars during the current run of the programme.

The cover, a preview of which is shown below, promotes a feature by Russell T Davies, looking at the roles of the Doctor's recent companions. "The companion acts as our eyes and ears, our gateway into the Doctor’s extraordinary world," Davies tells the magazine. "The companion is there so that the kids watching at home can think, 'That could be me!' I hope the companions still make children think that's possible, to travel in time and space."

FILTER: - Magazines - Series 4/30 - Radio Times

Midnight - Overnight Ratings

Sunday, 15 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Unofficial figures show that episode ten of Series Four,Midnight, was watched by 7.3 million viewers, giving it a 37.8% share of the total television audience.

The programme was once more the most watched of Saturday, beating the second placed Casualty by 1.5 million viewers.

ITV1's highest rated programme of the day was Euro 2008 with 3.8 million.

In a week when ratings were down across the board, Doctor Who actually increased its audience over the previous week.

As a measure of how well the programme has performed, it is currently the 5th most watched of the week, ahead of editions of Coronation Street and EastEnders. Final figures will be released by BARB in ten days time.

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

Episode Twelve Title

Friday, 13 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

The mystery title of Episode Twelve of Season Four, has been released by the BBC Press Office.

Please don't click on the link if you want to avoid spoilers for the episode.

Thanks to Neil Matthews and Jack Martin

The Stolen Earth Ep 12/13

Saturday 28 June

Earth's greatest heroes assemble in a time of dire need, in tonight's penultimate episode in this series of Russell T Davies's Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama. But can the Doctor's secret army defeat the might of the new Dalek Empire?

With battles on the streets and in the skies, the Doctor and Donna must brave the Shadow Proclamation to find out the truth. However, a fearsome old enemy waits in the shadows.

David Tennant plays the Doctor and Catherine Tate plays his companion, Donna Noble.

FILTER: - Production - Series 4/30

Silence in the Library - Final Ratings

Wednesday, 11 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Final figures released by BARB give episode Eight of Series Four, Silence in the Library, an official rating of 6.27 million viewers.

The week was dominated by ITV which had 15 of the top twenty places, thanks to the runaway success ofBritain's Got Talent, the final of which is now the most watched programme of the year to date.

Doctor Who was the 27th most watched for the week on British Television and the 9th most watched on BBC Television. It is the first time the programme has dropped out of the top twenty since The Empty Childin 2005 and the lowerst position since the series returned in 2005. The rating is the lowest sinceThe Satan Pit in 2006, which got 6.1 million watching.

Some of the missing viewers watched the Sunday repeat on BBC3 which was watched by 1.35 million viewers and was the 2nd most watched programme on multi-channel for the week. To date over half a million have also watched it on the BBC iPlayer and the total reach of the programme is over 8.5 million.

The Saturday showing of Doctor Who Confidential got 0.57 million viewers making it the 31st most watched multi-channel programme. The Sunday repeat was higher in the chart with 0.63 million watching and number 24 in the chart.

Full ratings data, including data for iPlayer downloads can be found in the Doctor Who Forum.

Top Programmes w/e 1 June 2008

1 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT FINAL RESULT (SAT 2131) - 13.88 - ITV1
2 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (FRI 2101) - 11.86 - ITV1
3 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (SAT 1849) - 11.52 - ITV1
4 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (MON 2100) - 11.33 - ITV1
5 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (THU 2030) - 10.13 - ITV1
6 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (WED 2031) - 10.03 - ITV1
7 CORONATION STREET (MON 2029) - 9.99 - ITV1
8 CORONATION STREET (MON 1931) - 9.89 - ITV1
9 EASTENDERS (MON 1959) - 9.38 - BBC1
10 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (TUE 2030) - 9.29 - ITV1
11 CORONATION STREET (WED 1929) - 9.23 - ITV1
12 CORONATION STREET (FRI 1933) - 9.09 - ITV1
13 CORONATION STREET (FRI 2029) - 8.96 - ITV1
14 EASTENDERS (FRI 2000) - 7.95 - BBC1
15 EASTENDERS (THU 1929) - 7.46 - BBC1
16 EMMERDALE (MON 1900) - 7.31 - ITV1
17 I'D DO ANYTHING - THE FINAL (SAT 2044) - 7.18 - BBC1
18 MATCH OF THE DAY LIVE (WED 2000) - 7.07 - BBC1
19 EMMERDALE (WED 1859) - 6.99 - ITV1
20 THE APPRENTICE (TUE 2100) - 6.84 - BBC1
21 EMMERDALE (FRI 1901) - 6.68 - ITV1
22 EASTENDERS (TUE 1930) - 6.60 - BBC1
23 EMMERDALE (THU 1858) - 6.37 - ITV1
24 EMMERDALE (TUE 1859) - 6.34 - ITV1
25 BBC NEWS (MON 1830) - 6.32 - BBC1
26 AN AUDIENCE WITH NEIL DIAMOND (SAT 2030) - 6.28 - ITV1
27 DOCTOR WHO (SAT 1902) - 6.27 - BBC1
28 HEARTBEAT (SUN 1959) - 5.70 - ITV1
29 I'D DO ANYTHING - THE FINAL (SAT 1800) - 5.46 - BBC1
30 THE INSPECTOR LYNLEY MYSTERIES (SUN 1959) - 5.30 - BBC1

Top Multi Channel Programmes w/e 1 June 2008

1 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Sat 2158) 2,172,000 - ITV2
2 DOCTOR WHO (Sun 2001) 1,345,000 - BBC3
3 LOST (Sun 2101) 1,166,000 - Sky One
4 EASTENDERS (Tue 2201) 1,162,000 - BBC3
5 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Wed 2159) 1,150,000 - ITV2
6 HEROES (Thu 2231) 1,141,000 - BBC3
7 EASTENDERS (Thu 2201) 1,122,000 - BBC3
8 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Mon 2230) 1,117,000 - ITV2
9 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Sat 2027) 931,000 - ITV2
10 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Fri 2231) 914,000 - ITV2
11 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Thu 2159) 875,000 - ITV2
12 GLADIATORS (Sun 1759) 844,000 - Sky One
13 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Tue 2159) 825,000 - ITV2
14 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (Sun 2001) 744,000 - ITV2
15 HOME AND AWAY (Wed 1829) 713,000 - Fiver (was
16 60 SECONDS (Sun 1959) 712,000 - BBC3
17 HOME AND AWAY (Tue 1828) 710,000 - Fiver (was
18 HOME AND AWAY (Thu 1828) 690,000 - Fiver (was
19 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT FINAL RESULT (Sun 2144) 685,000 - ITV2
20 THE SIMPSONS (Sun 2031) 664,000 - Sky One
21 HOME AND AWAY (Fri 1829) 653,000 - Fiver (was
22 HOLLYOAKS (Mon 1859) 647,000 - E4 In
23 HOLLYOAKS (Wed 1859) 636,000 - E4 In
24 DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL (Sun 2045) 632,000 - BBC3
25 FAMILY GUY (Sun 2202) 630,000 - BBC3
26 HOLLYOAKS (Tue 1859) 630,000 - E4 In
27 HOLLYOAKS (Thu 1859) 611,000 - E4 In
28 DONT FORGET THE LYRICS (Sun 1901) 598,000 - Sky One
29 FAMILY GUY (Sun 2223) 593,000 - BBC3
30 BONES (Thu 2101) 586,000 - Sky One

Source BARB

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

Forest of the Dead - AI and Digital Ratings

Monday, 9 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Episode nine of series four, Forest of the Dead, scored an Appreciation Index of 89. Equal to last week, the figure is the joint highest score for the programme for all time. It was the most appreciated programme on BBC1 and ITV on Saturday.

Sunday's Coronation Street got just 16,000 more viewers than Saturday's Doctor Who, just enough to push Forest Of the Dead into 11th place for the week. This position is likely to rise when corrected figures, including numbers for those recording the programme, are released by BARB in 9 days time. A top ten place is a reasonable possibility.

Sunday's BBC3 repeat got an overnight audience of 0.6 million, much lower than the repeat of Episode 8. It was a 3.2% share of the multi-channel audience and the 2nd most watched programme on all multi-channel TV for Sunday. The highest rated programme was Family Guy.

Saturday's edition of Doctor Who Confidential was watched by 0.76 million viewers. The programme, which had a share of 4.8 %, was the most watched on multi-channel television on Saturday, with 50% more viewers than the second placed Top Gear. The Sunday repeat got 0.25 million viewers.

Last Friday's repeat of Silence in the Library got an audience of 0.43 million viewers. There were a large number of requests for Silence in the Library on iPlayer on Saturday.

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

Previous 10 Stories

Series 4 End Party in London

Forest of the Dead - Final Ratings

Photo spoiler in The Sun

Press round-up

Midnight - AI and Digital Ratings

New Radio Times

Midnight - Overnight Ratings

Episode Twelve Title

Silence in the Library - Final Ratings

Forest of the Dead - AI and Digital Ratings

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